Forced holidays and furlough

MarkAH65

Is it ok for a company to make you use holidays when you don't want to take them, pay you your holiday money then claim furlough for that employee so getting 80% of what they are forcing you to take as a holiday back off the furlough scheme? 

elsien

Yes they can tell an employee when they must take leave, with the right notice. Employers do not want all their furloughed workers saving up leave for when the weather is better because that would be unworkable. And expensive for a company that may already be   struggling. 

Yes they can claim furlough for people on leave.  From gov.uk

Holiday pay

An employer can continue to claim for a furloughed worker’s wages when the worker takes annual leave.

Jonesy1977

Yes they can, and you are not being forced to take holidays.   You are being furloughed (to save your job) you are being paid for your holidays so are not materially worse off and you are accruing holidays and time served with your employer.  You could speak to your employer and tell them how you feel?  Of course you may not like the response.

unholyangel

If you're furloughed, your employer can request you use annual leave for some of the furlough period as long as they give you twice as much notice (as the amount of holiday). 

If you are not furloughed then no, your employer can't use cjrs to claim some of the holiday money/can't put you on furlough because you have a holiday booked or for periods the business would ordinarily be closed (such as over Xmas and new year). 

mattyprice4004

Can you imagine if everyone came back from furlough with loads of holidays to use? 
Everyone would be off loads at a time where businesses need to rake in cash to make up for the downtime. 

[Deleted User]

People missing the point here.

Holidays are needed to maintain good mental health. Under lockdown it can be difficult for many people to relax and recuperate. Not everyone has a garden or things to amuse themselves at home. Lockdown for many has been hard.

So while legally they can do this, it's not good for people who need a proper break. It's just adding to the mental health crisis that the pandemic is creating, and it would be good if employers tried their best to help.

elsien

People aren’t missing the point.
They are answering the question that has been asked. 

GrumpyDil

Sorry but I have to agree with the point about emoyers asking staff to take leave. I've been working from home now for best part of a year but had to make sure to use last year's leave allocation as normal. We're doing the same this year because, quite simply, if we don't do that then we couldn't manage the time when all staff wanted to take leave (ie. Out of lockdown and restrictions).
It's not great taking time off when in lockdown but does allow a little refreshing.
Admittedly it's different if on furlough but employers simply would not be able to manage leave if it's all held until we are restriction free. 

Jonesy1977

[DELETED USER] said:

People missing the point here.

Holidays are needed to maintain good mental health. Under lockdown it can be difficult for many people to relax and recuperate. 

With all due respect, I think you are missing the point.  Furlough is there to save jobs it is called the job retention scheme for a reason, it costs companies significantly to keep people on furlough.  The OP will be paid fully for their holiday, the idea that they can then use them when it suits them is a non starter for most companies as the company needs labour to rebuild.  I would personally be grateful that the company has saved my job and less concerned with the holiday that I have "lost" moreover the OP seems to be annoyed that the company is recuperating a percentage of the holiday (to save their job) through HMRC, which is ironic to say the least.  One would have thought the mental health impact would be much worse if they had lost their job.

JamoLew

GrumpyDil said:

Sorry but I have to agree with the point about emoyers asking staff to take leave. I've been working from home now for best part of a year but had to make sure to use last year's leave allocation as normal. We're doing the same this year because, quite simply, if we don't do that then we couldn't manage the time when all staff wanted to take leave (ie. Out of lockdown and restrictions).
It's not great taking time off when in lockdown but does allow a little refreshing.
Admittedly it's different if on furlough but employers simply would not be able to manage leave if it's all held until we are restriction free. 

Agree - I actually quite enjoyed taking a week of recently.

Proper relaxing time with not having to think about running around doing stuff and going places - just some good quality time at home with the wife, a book and some wine

sheramber

My son enjoyed his holiday a few weeks ago.
No need to get up early  and log on to computer. Able to stay up late at night to watch American football final live as  no work the next day.
Able to relax reading, do for a bike ride or just laze about.
Much cheaper than having to pay for trips or holidays.